Page 18 - Industrial Technology EXTRA 27th July 2020

ADHESIVES..
ADHESIVES..

Loctite products are music to

the ears of master bowmaker

Having exhausted nearly every option for gluing mother of pearl to ebony hardwood, a
leading manufacturer of bows for string instruments struck the right note on
discovering the performance characteristics of Loctite 330 from Henkel. This general-
purpose structural adhesive, which is ideal for use on dissimilar substrates, has
solved the bonding dilemma for John Matthews the Bowmaker, once and for all

ased in Gosport, John Matthews the the bow’s ebony ‘frog’. The frog is what holds the
Bowmaker has been supplying players of hair ribbon and gives the bow its tension.
bowed string instruments around the “Over the years we’ve tried everything;
Bworld with industry-leading bows since superglue was probably the worst,” states John
1996. Ornate in design, the master craftsman’s Matthews. “The problem with superglue is that it
bows are made with the benefit of many years’ doesn’t like heat, and after I’ve adhered these two
experience. However, one particular process had parts together I have to perform a little saw cut. The
long-remained a challenge, namely the successful tiny bit of heat produced by the blade is enough to
and reliable adhering of a mother of pearl inlay to separate a joint made using superglue. I’ve also

July 2020 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA! • p18